It never ceases to amaze when manufacturers try to convince people that an issue with something they purchased is actually a “feature”. Apple has most recently tried to convince buyers of the iPhone 5 that the purple haze or ring around bright light sources is normal behavior.

An iPhone 5 owner named Matt Van Gastel had been speaking with Apple customer support about the purple flare problem with his iPhone 5. Gizmodo shows images highlighting the difference between photographs taken in the same setting using iPhone 5 compared to the iPhone 4. The purple haze around the sun is readily apparent in the iPhone 5 image, and the same purple discoloration shows up with any bright light source.

After going back and forth with Apple support, Van Gastel received an email back from Apple stating that their engineering team has found a solution to the problem. According to Apple, the solution is to "angle the camera away from the bright light source when taking pictures."

The email also went on to say that the purple flare noted in images provided to customer service is "normal behavior for the iPhone 5s camera."

Gizmodo reports that some photography experts believe that the purple flare problem is caused by the sapphire glass that covers the iPhone 5 camera sensor.

quote: According to Apple, the solution is to "angle the camera away from the bright light source when taking pictures."

Awesome. Guess they've never been photographers (or even amateur ones) before, as sometimes you cannot remove a bright light source from the frame unless you are in a studio environment, in which case the iPhone 5 would not be taking pictures in the first place...

I'm not saying that the iPhone 5 was made for photography, I'm simply saying their solution is hilarious and one that wouldn't even work in real world situations.

My DSLR suffers from chromatic aberration and lens flare (what appears to be the issue with the purple fringing) when taking any picture where the sun is in the frame, so I'm not sure what your point is about "photographers." Most "photographers" would tell you should avoid taking a picture with the sun in the frame unless you have a specific purpose for doing so (i.e., you want lens flare in your picture or you are taking a picture of the sun).

As for Apple's response, I interpreted it to mean that the behavior was "normal" in the sense that, it's not going to be fixed if you send it in for repair. The comment about angling the camera away from bright light sources is, well, accurate. But whatevers, I'll be painted as an Apple-apologist because it's funnier to construe Apple's response as supporting purple fringing and/or subscribing to the false belief that Samsung would have responded differently and admitted that the lens elements used in their product are inferior in quality...

Yes, avoiding bright light sources in your pictures is good advice. But what makes this a big deal to many people is that (1) the previous models of iPhone didn't have a problem this pronounced, (2) the problem exhibits itself even when a light source (which doesn't actually have to be that bright) is out of frame... if a bright light falls on the lens at all the problem shows up, and (3) Apple is touting the iPhone 5 as having the best camera they've ever produced.

Since the image sensor is the same as the one in the 4S, it's kind of aggravating that new, significant problems show up in a product that is supposed to be "better." Other than better low light performance, it would be hard to call this an improvement.

There is no attempt needed because it's the same thing different verb. "You're holding wrong" versus "You're pointing it wrong." Basically Apple is saying that it's fine as long as you don't have a source in the general direction that the camera is facing. More of their users-are-the-problem tech support yet your focus is on the article not the issue.

You may not own any Apple products, but it seems you're certainly qualified. Ignore the issue, Attack the people reporting it.

> My DSLR suffers from chromatic aberration and lens flare (what appears to be the issue with the purple fringing) when taking any picture where the sun is in the frame, so I'm not sure what your point is about "photographers." Most "photographers" would tell you should avoid taking a picture with the sun in the frame unless you have a specific purpose for doing so (i.e., you want lens flare in your picture or you are taking a picture of the sun).

Purple fringing has long been a problem, particularly in compact digitals and in kit lenses shooting backlit trees. But if the sample picture provided here is a fair representation of the problem, the i5 is far worse than typical for even a digicam. That's not fringing, it's a whole halo!

Every lens will have lens flare, some more pronounced than others. The Canon 50mm 1.8 has it pretty bad but the example image shows the worst possible situation which in a real world scenario you would never take. No photographer ever would shoot directly into the sun WITH the sun at the very edge of the frame, you WILL get lens flare, as seen in both images. This lens flare is NEVER 'wanted', photographers do not want this 'effect'. The new lens in the iphone 5 does make this more pronounced but there are tradeoffs when designing lenses. Barrel distortion, coma, chromatic abberation, sharpness, contrast, micro contrast, color representation, ability to handle lens flare, etc.. all add up to a properly designed lens. People are jumping on the bandwagon for the wrong reason here... lens flare is meaningless from a design perspective if a lens can excel in other areas.

when designing a lens you have these to take into account:-distortion-coma-chromatic abberation-sharpness in corners, center (MTF)-contrast (MTF)-micro contrast-color representation-lens flare handling-bokeh-light falloff-focusing distance

If the lens was lacking in any of these areas the backlash would be the same. I see people in this thread bashing apple who don't even have a iPhone 5 to actually test out themselves.. merely using a single side x side image to let the hate flow.

"I see people in this thread bashing apple who don't even have a iPhone 5 to actually test out themselves.. merely using a single side x side image."

There were what, 5 million iPhones sold the first weekend? This issue wasnt invented by the non-iPhone buying crowd, it was reported by people with iPhone 5's, and I hate to break it to you, it IS an issue. Those pics came from iPhone 5's and its not all directly at the sun. Whatever though, you defend anything and everything Apple does so there isnt really much point debating is there?

google "iphone5 purple" and look at the images. It's not just one worst case scenario. It even happens in night shots with car lights or street lights. The problem is much worse than on any other smartphone or compact camera.

And what advantage did Apple get with this tradeoff? It's not f/2.0 like Nokia, nor does it have OIS. Oh, right. Apple wanted to have the thinnest smartphone, because the extra millimeter of other smartphones was a real headache...

The photo with the sun in the edge of the frame just shows the effect in an unmistakable way. The effect is called 'purple fringing' by photographers. Inferior lenses have more - good ones have almost none. The purple fringing occurs along the edge of any bright light source. That could be a candle in a dark room. In my 35 years of shooting photographs - including plenty involving flare from the sun, I have never seen so much purple fringing. If the camera is doing that, it is also layering a thick edge of purple to any light/dark contrasting edge in a photo. Might be the cheapest plastic possible (to get the device thinner, I am sure) in that camera.

If you have been shooting for 35 years you should be able to tell why this purple ghosting is occurring. The sapphire lens apple used is AR coated on BOTH sides and the internal Sony lens is also coated. These coatings are purple and the cause of these abberations are caused by internal reflections. If the sapphire lens was only coated on the outside and not the inside (or the Sony lens was not coated), this issue would not be occurring.

Here are just a few facts about this issue, yes there is a purple haze issue on the iPhone 5, however this was also an issue with the iPhone4,4S oh and look at this, the GSIII. The difference is, it is more severe on the iPhone 5. This really only happens when a very bright light source is in the frame. So if you enjoy taking pictures of the sun with your cell phone, the iPhone 5 is most likely not the phone for you. However, if you take normal picture, this is really not that big of a deal, just like Maps. Droid boneheads just like to make it out to be a huge issue, because its Apple. It's really that simple.

Yet... My 12 year old "Camera" phone with it's 320x240 camera resolution doesn't have this problem.

Some of Apple's products are fantastic, however the company as a whole is an egotistical, money hungry, anti-consumer behemoth, of course they will get flack for it, who cares if it does? It's just a company.

A company is a collection of people trying to make something so they can feed their children, send them to school, and put a roof over their head. Their investors, employees, customers, community, neighbors, city, and fans all rely on them performing well. To turn the word "company" or "corporation" into an inanimate object that you can use as a scapegoat for your problems is a useful tool for hate, but is not an accurate portrayal of what a company does for society.

quote: As an aside: How much of Apple's humongous cash reserves are going as bonuses to their employees?

Why does that even matter? If you're looking for a way Apple benefits society, then it doesn't matter where that money gets shuffled.

If it's paid out as bonuses, that's good for the employees.

If it's invested in capital expenditures, that's good for suppliers and their suppliers, etc.

If it's held as cash or cash-equivalents, the money is indirectly financing other companies loans and private credit via the banking system.

And if it does that or pays dividends, a huge majority of pension plans and private investment accounts probably hold decent stakes in Apple shares, even before this past weeks inclusion in the S&P500.

So lets keep it on their specific issues, and not veer off in to anti-corporate rhetoric thats out of touch with the real world. The fact is, Apple's expanded the economy (whether you like it or not, I know some Marxists in particular dont count any consumer luxury goods for whatever reason) by exploding markets that were either tiny or non-existant before they came along and added their secret sauce.

Anyway, Apple fans shouldn't get their feathers so ruffled, and neither should people get all furious at "the man" in the c-suite. Don't like how Apple handles its products? Then do what I do -- don't buy it.

LOL, you just have to defend Apple honor dont you? LOL. As if they deserve your loyalty. They are a company, and a particularly uncaring one at that. They do not deserve the pedestal you put them on Jack.

quote: Everyone on the Apple hate wagon. Next stop, another overblown issue.

Here are just a few facts about this issue, yes there is a purple haze issue on the iPhone 5, however this was also an issue with the iPhone4,4S oh and look at this, the GSIII. The difference is, it is more severe on the iPhone 5. This really only happens when a very bright light source is in the frame. So if you enjoy taking pictures of the sun with your cell phone, the iPhone 5 is most likely not the phone for you. However, if you take normal picture, this is really not that big of a deal, just like Maps. Droid boneheads just like to make it out to be a huge issue, because its Apple. It's really that simple.

Careful - if you talk common sense here in relation anything to do with Apple you will get marked - oops already happened. The Apple Haters are the new Luddites, technology no longer interests them they get off chomping on imaginary faults in products they don't own. Weird and sad and oh so noisy. They have the same relationship to technology as Beavis and Butt-head had to music.

When have I attacked Android kit? I have often said that buying Android makes perfect sense for some people and I have wished, and continued to wish, Android customers all the best with their products. Some Fandroids on the other hand like to hurl absurd insults casually at tens of millions of Apple customers. It's that sort of behaviour that reminds me of Beavis and Butt-Head. Loser sniggering in basements.

I think you confuse defending Apple with attacking Android kit.

I have to confess in a recent post linking to a comparative iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S3 drop test but that was not to attack Android but just to point out how well the iPhone 5 performed.

By the way there have been a few more comparative Samsung Galaxy S3 and iPhone 5 drop tests since then, they are here

That is shuch a iDiotic term...it would mean fear of Apple, when in actually Apple is the one in fear, getting crushed in sales (4th in world), and showing their fear by tring to get their competition banned...when Apple is probabally the greatest IP thief on the planet...here's some that will be going to trial that Apple stole from Samsung

•Method and apparatus for performing non-scheduled transmission in a mobile communication system for supporting an enhanced uplink data channel•Method and apparatus for signaling control information of uplink packet data service in mobile communication system•Audio/video device having a volume control function for an external audio reproduction unit by using volume control buttons of a remote controller and volume control method therefor•Multimedia synchronisation method and device•Data displaying apparatus and method•Software keyboard system using trace of stylus on a touch screen and method for recognising key code using the same•Apparatus for recording and reproducing digital image and speech•Remote video transmission system

Poor Apple. Restricted by it's failed strategy to just making products which generate huge profits and whose sales go up constantly. Doomed by the largest developers revenues and biggest content deals to remain stuck in the obscurity of the world's biggest digital content and app ecosystem. Saddled with the world's most successful retail operation and demoralised by constantly topping every survey of brand reputation and customer satisfaction. Weighed down by the world's largest company valuation. Held back by being the most profitable tech company of all time. What a terrible fate. How can poor Apple cope?

quote: It really is the good, the bad and the ugly, isn’t it? The iPhone 5 is the perfect take-anywhere camera and, in good light, it’s hard to tell the difference between its images and those from a compact camera.But the lack of an optical zoom (impractical, granted), no image stabilisation, no manual control, often bizarre exposure settings and the fact that quality jumps off a virtual cliff at high ISO settings - not that these can be controlled - all make an argument for investing in a dedicated high-end compact.

Some new features such as panorama are fun, but more than a little rusty around the edges for the time being and streets behind the compact camera curve. But that’s easy to improve with software updates, and something that we expect will happen.

In a smartphone-only camera context, there are only a handful of contenders to consider, none of which has the current range of features on offer here. It’s in Nokia’s hands now to see what the Lumia 920 can pull off, as, for our money, the iPhone 5 is only bettered - at the time of writing - by the 808 PureView's clever tech and large sensor.

That makes the iPhone 5 a darn good second and, for most consumers, it’ll have the majority of what’s needed including all the back-up and sharing options right there and then. If a big zoom is essential then the iPhone 5 isn’t going to compare, but given the context of what it is - a phone before a camera - and it’s hard not to be impressed for the most part.

quote: I purposefully chose a composition that had a lot of harsh light and various colorful objects at varying distances. The metering and focusing on both cameras was spotted directly on the “no stopping” sign.

The results are pretty amazing – the iPhone takes worse photos but it certainly stacks up against a $4,000 professional camera. And, although the photos from the iPhone are significantly noisier, it has fantastic automatic metering.

quote: I hesitate to pick an overall winner here -- my time shooting with all three was brief -- but when it came down to picture quality, the iPhone 5 regularly produced excellent photos regardless of lighting. The One X is a pretty close second, however, turning out photos with nice color and detail. The Galaxy S3 turns out very good pictures, too, but they're not as usable at larger sizes as the iPhone 5's

> The results are pretty amazing – the iPhone takes worse photos but it certainly stacks up against a $4,000 professional camera. And, although the photos from the iPhone are significantly noisier, it has fantastic automatic metering.

Anyone that actually opens up the original images in that comparison sees how far apart they are...the iphone does not stack up at all.

Luddites? Seriously? Apple puts out a camera with SEVERE chromatic aberration... a well known phenomenon that plagued digital cameras some 10 years ago but has pretty much been fixed in most recent cameras... and you call people who criticize it "Luddites"? The Luddite is the frickin idiot at Apple who thought that severe chromatic aberration is acceptable , and released the product (FAIL). This is not an overblown issue. Chromatic aberration won't just occur when pointing at light sources (I guess iphone 5 owners don't take pictures containing sunsets, sunrises, backlit things, or night scenes), but will also fringe on anything with specular highlights.

This is a FAIL for any modern camera. In fact, only a Luddite would accept such crap.

That's hilarious, considering the iPhone was one of the last on the 4G bandwagon and still lacks NFC.

I'll give them credit for bringing *stunning* display tech to the masses and shaming other vendors in to following them along, but Apple fans are the ones closer to being some form of form-over-function variant of luddite.

None of you luddite fools have even handled an iPhone 5, let alone taken a photo with it or found any fault with it's camera.

You are just afraid because it is Apple that dominates the new tech economy and it is Apple that is in the driving seat and that really upsets you because you don't really understand what is going on. And so laughably, and pathetically, you get a bad case of hysterics every time anyone finds a single bad thing to say about the iPhone or anything else that Apple makes or does.

Such passions about things you don't own, such a strange obsessions with a company whose products you won't ever buy, such anxiety for the well being of consumers you profess to despise.

You can get a more balanced argument if you provide references for your claims. What gizmodo and others have sown was a comparison of iphone 5 with iphone 4s. The 4s did not have this problem at all. Check the referenced sites.

Now, its ok to accept that iphone 5 was one of the poorly executed products from apple. Bad maps, bad outer cover, same old os design, bad camera... hmmm... apple better shape up. I see a lot of my apple fan friends getting less attached. I may even turn them to android or windows phone 8

Have you taken a look at the article? They have a comparision iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 pics in almost identical place yet the 4 doesn't show the problem. I have also seen pics of someone's car with the sun not in frame yet the top edge of the pic has the purple haze so it's not just direct light.

"Have you taken a look at the article? They have a comparision iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 pics in almost identical place yet the 4 doesn't show the problem. I have also seen pics of someone's car with the sun not in frame yet the top edge of the pic has the purple haze so it's not just direct light."

Read the article and looked at the examples? Hell no. They are here to defend Apple and nothing else. The fact that the pictures prove the issue is worse ont he iPhone 5 means nothing. The fact that is IS NOT only in direct sunlight means nothing. All that matters is that Apple is the best, especially when it clearly isnt.

How often do you include an object as bright as the Sun in the field of vision of a photo? Whilst the purple haze is undesirable, so is pointing a precision light sensor like that in a camera such that the light of the Sun is focused directly onto it. You wouldn't do that with your eye, would you? (if you do, you risk permanent blindness)

Now if this problem occurs with *all* extreme contrast situations (such as streetlights on a long exposure night shot where most of the scene is much dimmer) then it is a problem. If it only occurs when an extremely bright object is in the scene, then to be honest, you *are* using the camera wrong.

If you must insist on pointing your iPhone camera at the Sun and taking photos, buy a suitable filter for it like you would buy for an SLR to eliminate the problem. No doubt someone will come out with some easily attached accessory for use when pointing the camera at the Sun to eliminate the problem.

They just figured everyone taking pictures with their super high quality camera would just send it through a shitstagram filter to lower the quality and upload it to facebook anyway, so the purple glare would actually help make the picture look worse.

quote: so the purple glare would actually help make the picture look worse.

Maybe in time this "subtlety distinctive addition" to every picture will become an Apple trademark, so everyone will know the picture was taken with an Apple product without them having to add a blatant trademark accreditation stamped over the picture that ruins ones artistic appreciation of the photographer's skill. I would expect this "subtlety distinctive element" to soon be copyrighted, patented, trademarked, etc.

quote: How often do you include an object as bright as the Sun in the field of vision of a photo? Whilst the purple haze is undesirable, so is pointing a precision light sensor like that in a camera such that the light of the Sun is focused directly onto it.

Ever heard of "sunrise" or "sunset"? Let me fill you in: People take pictures of them ALL THE TIME. Google has 53,600,000 images of them:

What agitates the Apple haters is the seeming relentless growth of Apple. Since Steve Jobs died Apple stock has risen 77% and Apple's profits are up are up 85%.Apple now owns the largest hedge fund in the world

That sort of stuff is bound to be really upsetting for those that actively dislike Apple so getting erect about a non-event such 'purplehazegate' or 'connectorcablegate' or 'mapgate' is understandable. But it is puerile.

You have to agree with Tony. As a business Apple is highly profitable. However, you are right this is a tech site.

As a company, Apple is great. If you are an investor, you probably did very well with Apple.

As a consumer, you generally pay more and get less for Apple products. In the USA for iPhone its a bit different with the carrier contracts, in the USA regarding the iPhone, you pay the same and get less for going with Apple. To me, for a high end phone, you just pay too much and get too many "no's"

Right, this isn't the Wall Street Journal Online. I don't care how much the stupid company makes. It makes no difference whatsoever so I don't know why that's all this Tony guy comes back with time and time again.

Also, just because something is popular doesn't mean it's the best. It's usually quite the opposite.

I used to have a 3G, then a 3GS, and I currently own an iPad 2 3rd gen, but I am about ready to give up on this Apple thing altogether. I almost feel embarrassed owning Apple products these days, like it's one step away from buying a Justin Bieber album.

In response to your post about CONs on iPhone. Your opinions are a matter of choice. No? For the most part, most phones are too big. Motorola's new Droid M fits a 4.3" display into the body as narrow as the iPhone 4/5... it really is almost edge to edge.

No Large screen = Opinion, not that big of a deal.No HD video = iPhone outputs HD video, no? No NFC = Not a big deal, my new Atrix doesn't have it. Many people with SGS3 didn't know they had it until the recent ads. In 2-3 years, it'll be a required feature.

No SD card = Some care, some don't. Many HTC phones don't have this. I prefer to have it, thou :) No Micro USB = So what? The Apple mini-port connects to USB. mUSB ports SUCK for docking and insertion with a cable period. But a concern about the new port would be "how easy to break" when its part of a $300 speaker.

No removable battery = That's about 1/3+ of Android phones. Only time I pulled my battery on my old Galaxy was beacuse the POS locked up... which I did from Day 1, about 100 times. There are trade-offs... no cover = more protection from water, but a cover hides the memory slots. No hardware options Huh? What? Go into any Walmart, Target, Best Buy and check out all the iPod/iPhone/iPad and iPoop products out there. Then check out the Android... almost nothing.

Apple makes good products, they do something better. This purple haze is BS, and the company itself is nothing but a bunch of assholes with their "rectangle with rounded corners" - otherwise, they are company no different from MS, Google, etc.

PS: I considered these phones about a month or so ago:iPhone 4S, SGS3, HTC ONE X.

- Apple pissed me off... scratch that.- SGS3 = Didn't like the glossy feel of the back, nor shape. Did like the HOME button, Touch-Sense and keyboard = ho-hum, and its screen is on the dark side. Never happy with my old GS1.- HTC One X = Good feel and size, snappy. Power button on top resulted = no sale.

Motorola Atrix HD comes out: camera is weak. Kind of old-style with hump. But feels good, bright screen. Purist version of ICS without being a Nexus phone. Like the circles. Very happy with this phone.

EX was going to buy the HTC ONE, but the lack of the SD-Slot killed that idea... so she got an Atrix HD as well. :\

Its good we have choices... what works for you, doesn't for me and visa-versa.